8 tips to ease winter travel woes

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Travelers walk across a snow-covered parking lot at Newark Liberty International Airport on Friday.

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More than 2,000 flights have been canceled Friday

Follow airports and airlines on social media for the latest updates

Patience and common sense are your best bets for safe travels

The arctic weather just keeps pounding people on the move.

Here are some tips to ease the trip home, but above all else, patience -- and caution -- will be key.

Rebook your flight for free. Airlines rolled out their customary winter weather waivers this week, so most passengers traveling to, from or through affected areas can make one itinerary change without paying a change fee. Delta, American, US Airways, United, Southwest/AirTran and JetBlue have all posted weather policies on their websites.

Act quickly.Rebook your itinerary as soon as possible. Other passengers are snapping up open seats as you mull over a new itinerary. Be sure that your airline has your e-mail address and phone number, advises Rick Seaney, CEO of airfare tracker FareCompare.com. If you didn't provide this information when you purchased the ticket, go online and add it.

Follow your airline and airport on social media. Many airlines and airports post the speediest updates to their Twitter feeds, so start following them now. Sign up for airline alerts to get flight updates e-mailed to your smartphone.

If you're stranded, multitask. Get online, get on the phone and get in the ticketing line (if you're already at the airport). With thousands of flights delayed or canceled, competition will be fierce for seats when operations start humming again. Get airline apps for your phone and try to contact your airline on Twitter, Seaney suggests.

Winter weather grips U.S. – Vehicles drive down a snow-covered road in Burton, Michigan, on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Metra employees in Chicago walk around LaSalle Street Station on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man warms his hand while running errands in Flint, Michigan, on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A commuter walks past warming lamps at a Chicago train station on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A woman props up her feet on her luggage January 6 after her flight home was canceled at Logan International Airport in Boston.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A woman makes her way through a snow drift in downtown St. Louis on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man shovels the snow off his car in Indianapolis on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A woman walks to the University of Minnesota's St. Paul campus on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man clears the sidewalk in front of his home in Carmel, Indiana, on January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A blanket of fog covers Lake Michigan along the Chicago shoreline January 6.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man braves the snow in downtown Springfield as a winter storm moves across the Midwest on Sunday, January 5.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A car is buried in snow January 5 in Zionsville, Indiana.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A city snowplow clears the street in an almost-deserted downtown Springfield on January 5.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – With the Gateway Arch in the distance, a person struggles to cross the street during a snowstorm January 5 in downtown St. Louis.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Snow covers a garden gnome in St. Louis on January 5.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Anna Maksimkina of Yekaterinburg, Russia, sleeps on the floor at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after a Delta flight from Toronto to New York skidded off the runway into a snow bank, temporarily halting all flights January 5.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Four homeless men warm themselves on a steam grate by the Federal Trade Commission Building, blocks from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, as frigid temperatures grip the nation's capital on Saturday, January 4.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – People go sledding in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, New York, on January 4.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Snow is piled high in front of a Home Depot in Boston on January 4.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Sunlight beams through the windows of a building that caught on fire Friday, January 3, in Plattsmouth, Nebraska. The firefighters' water froze all over the building.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Michael Stanton walks between houses covered with ice in Scituate, Massachusetts, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Pedestrians brave wind and snow as they cross New York City's Fifth Avenue on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Snow clings to the clothing and facial hair of Jerome Williams as he uses a snowblower in front of his home in Roosevelt, New York, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Travelers wait in line January 3 at Chicago Midway International Airport.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Frost covers the windows at the Morning Glory natural food store in Brunswick, Maine, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Snowplows clear snow from one of the runways at JFK Airport on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Surfers make their way through snow on New York's Rockaway Beach on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Passengers wait in line at a security checkpoint at JFK Airport on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Blowing snow swirls as a worker shovels a platform at a Haddonfield, New Jersey, train station on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A plane takes off January 3 as trucks plow snow at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark, New Jersey.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man walks down a snowy road along the shore in Scituate on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Postal worker Danny Kim clears snow and ice off the hood of his delivery truck January 3 in Bethesda, Maryland.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A couple walks across a snow-covered parking lot January 3 at Newark Liberty International Airport.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Tourists play in the snow at the base of the Washington Monument on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – People play in Brooklyn's Prospect Park on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man walks through the snow as the wind kicks it up January 3 in New York City.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Dante de Blasio, son of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, shovels snow outside his home in Brooklyn on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Snow covers subway rails in New York City on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man uses his snowblower to clear some paths in Mansfield, Connecticut, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Workers clear snow off sidewalks on New York City's Fifth Avenue on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man clears snow from a vehicle January 3 in Albany, New York.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A truck-mounted snowblower clears a section of road in Dedham, Massachusetts, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A worker clears snow from a subway station in Queens, New York, on January 3. Public schools were closed Friday after up to 7 inches of snow fell in New York City.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man shovels snow during the tail end of a snowstorm in Brooklyn on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man rides an all-terrain vehicle through a Brooklyn street on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – The Kunta Kinte-Alex Haley Memorial is covered in snow in Annapolis, Maryland, on January 3.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man plows snow January 3 following an overnight snowstorm in Jersey City, New Jersey.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A child sleds down a hill in Chicago's Humboldt Park on Thursday, January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Children make a snow pile in New York's Times Square on January 2.

Winter weather grips U.S. – A man drags a suitcase on a snowy street in downtown Boston on January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A van is pulled from a ditch along Interstate 94 in Jackson, Michigan, on January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A man walks his dog on the snow-covered Monon Trail in Carmel, Indiana, on January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – An airplane waits for passengers at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago on January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – A woman walks through snowy conditions in Albany on January 2.

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Winter weather grips U.S. – Trucks clear snow off the roads in Torrington, Connecticut, on January 2.

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Elite fliers should use their loyalty program hot lines and head to frequent flier lounges for better access to airline reps. "This might be the time to spring for a lounge day-pass just to gain access to these folks," Seaney wrote in an e-mail.

Use the NextFlight app and type in your city pair to get the next flights for the major airlines, suggests Benet J. Wilson, Aviation Queen travel blogger. Then, call the airline on your cell phone and give them your preferred options.

Charge your devices. Hopefully, you're not among those travelers stranded at the airport, where jockeying for electrical outlets is inevitable. Charge up before you head out, and keep a car charger and a power pack or a few battery chargers for your portable electronic devices handy.

Check your flight, no matter where you're going. Think you don't have to worry about bad weather because you're flying from sunny California to sunny Florida? Not so fast.

"Because airlines operate networks, a storm affects not only flights in its immediate location but even those in far-removed locations not affected by the storm," said Cynthia Barnhart, an MIT engineering professor who teaches airline schedule planning.

Check your aircraft's journey on your airline website or with an app like Flightview.

Don't be a jerk. "The airline representatives did not make it snow," Seaney reminds travelers. "We've heard many anecdotal stories over the years from airline representatives who tell us it's a lot easier to find a good flight for a pleasant passenger than for one who is screaming at you."

Use common sense: Don't drive into a storm. It's treacherous out there. Monitor your local and regional forecasts, and don't drive if you don't have to.

AAA advises motorists to check tire pressure and make sure car batteries, cooling systems and antifeeze levels are in order. Keep gas tanks close to full, the automobile association advises, so that you'll be able to run the engine for heat in case you get stranded.

AAA suggests keeping the following items in your car: a shovel and a bag of sand, a snowbrush and ice scraper, jumper cables, a spare tire, windshield wiper fluid, a cell phone and car charger and blankets, gloves, hats and food, water and essential medication.